Will Texas Tech Football take the next step?

The 2009 football season and 2010 recruiting class have come to a dramatic end. Given the traffic here on DTN and elsewhere, it could be said that Tech fans have never been more engaged in what is going with the program than they are right this moment. Both positive and negative emotions have lead to a level of interest that is clogging message boards, and pushing our stadium to expansion limits. Nose bleed bleacher sections usually covered in bird feces are now brand new luxury boxes. $10,000 used to buy 4 semesters of tuition, now it buys 4 club seats for one season of football.

The Mike Leach era of Tech football is over. His legacy however, lives on in that none of the interest and progress mentioned above occurrs without his involvement. Without coach Leach there is no stadium expansion, there is no "Air Raid" or the top flight offense recruits it attracted. Without Leach there is no Michael Crabtree or Graham Harrell, and no moment in Nov. of 2008 where Tech fans accross the nation are brought to tears over the catch heard round the world. That night, wine drunk, and a Cohiba in hand, I stumbled out on my deck ....laid down on my back, and cried as I listened to what must have been hundreds of horns honking miles from the stadium, all accross Lubbock. Without Mike Leach there is no way a nationally recognized coach like Tommy Tuberville comes to Tech.

Now the debate rages accross Raidernation, "will coach Tuberville and this team make it to the next level"? Will we leave behind the yoke of mid-market also ran, for elite status. More than some of Raidernation are convinced our best chance at that kind of progress is now sipping bourbon-n-cokes in Key West. They are angry, hurt, and many have gone far enough as to refuse to support the team with their attendance,attention, and money. Most of this group of loyal but jaded Raider fans loves the team, will continue to watch, but remain emmensly skeptical.

So will the team answer our call? Will these recruits supplant their mediocre "Rivals Rating" and push the Masked Rider and his steed into BCS stadiums? The answer is NO. Atleast not alone. No, because this type of step is one of such huge proportion that it requires the heavy lifting of not just the team.........but also of it's fans. If any large contingent of it's fans withholds it's support, the entire machine fails. It's a self fullfilling prophecy you see. "We think we are doomed, so we cannot support". But without the support, we are doomed. Don't believe me, let's take a look at our competition:

The following is a list of every program who has won a National Championship since 1998, and how many different coaches they have had in that time:

School      Coaching Changes

Tenn                         3

LSU                          3

FL                             3

Ala                            4

OK                            2

TX                             2

USC                         3

OhSt                         2

FLSt                         2

Miami                      3

----------------------------

TTU                         3

This list represents our competition for elite status. The unicorn that has alluded our program since it's inception. Many of these schools have won mulitple NCs during this decade in spite of these coaching changes. One large common denominator among all of these schools is that through out it all, the fans endured, remained strong, and even grew their base of influence. Their stadiums are huge, many twice our size, with waiting lists for season tickets.  

We are Texas Tech, we are Raider Nation. We are bigger than Spyke Dykes, Mike Leach, Tommy Tubberville, and his inevitable replacement. We are hungry. We have never been closer to our dream, but also never more fractured. We have been picked on, disrespected, and ignored not only by the nation, but by our own conference foes for decades. Now we are dangerous. Like the dog raised on a chain, we are done being poked with the stick that is mediocrity.  We are ready. This turbulent time should not be allowed to divide us, or define us, but rather be the last straw that leads us to say "I'm angry as hell, and I am not going to take it anymore."

We have a choice. We can rightfully withold our monetary support for this team and protest the corrupt leadership who has surely embarrassed our great alma mater..........or we can support our squad in 2011 with such zeal and fervor that the "stooges" can't expand the stadium fast enough! We can bring about a level of fan support in 2011 the likes of which this school has never seen as we set records for attendance and noise! Let the "3 stooges" not be fired for the Leach debacle, but rather for incompetence due to underestimating capacity requirements at the Jones!

All eyes are on our program at this moment. If you doubt that take note that despite signing a medicore 41st best recruiting class, ESPN insisted on holding an interview with coach Tuberville. When was the last time the national press interviewed a Tech head coach on national signing day? Everyone is watching and waiting, many (especially in Austin & College Station) are looking for us to fail. Are we going to continue to let our support ebb and flow with the tides, or are we going to do what every other elite program has done in the last decade and cowboy up? The countdown has begun, the pieces are in place, the exact outcome is uncertain. But regardless, through our unprecedneted support, 2011 can be THE year of the Red Raider. From this moment forward, may our field never be rushed again. For no victory,  regardless of size or implication, is unexpected. Wreck'em Tech.